Turf Projects have invited Alice Gale-Feeny and Oliver Tirré to continue their collaborative curatorial project, Ground. In its first instance, Ground was a series of three duo shows that took place in ATTIC, One Thoresby Street, Nottingham in 2015. This time, within a group exhibition, artists Sean Edwards, Lynn Fulton, Adrian Schindler & Eulàlia Rovira and Lucy Vann present work that when seen in relation to one another, speak about the body’s relationship to architecture. The artists in some way visibly digest their surroundings; we witness the actions that lead towards the manifestation of the work itself, as it exists in its present state.

The exhibition considers looking as a fundamental action ingrained with a sense of internal movement; a back and forth quality between subject and the gaze of the artist and viewer. Works present material as adaptable, with an ability to morph, suggesting we think through the surrounding environment in the same way; objects and spaces, functioning to our own evolving needs.

Ground has invited artists who often work with what is already there. Through this negotiation between pre-existing materials, structures, dialogues, a certain amount of deconstruction takes place in order to accommodate new possibilities. The act of ‘doing’ therefore, materialises as a form of intervention.

The symbol of the maquette reoccurs throughout the exhibition. Gale-Feeny and Tirre use this as way of thinking about the notion of Ground. The use behind a maquette is initial and preliminary, it involves imagining what could be done. It starts from nothing and imagines something – despite being made from the most basic of materials. There is something important about pausing at this point where basic materials hold the potential to be more, that something performative can take place between viewer and artwork.

“Although gestures and bodily movements do not relate to anything beyond themselves, they are still tied to the specific course of action that is intended… remaining in a designated place, with or without direction; movement within the spatial field, with or without direction; time-related, spacerelated, body-related…the temporal reference can be grounded in the notion of duration or geared towards fluidity”1

To coincide with the exhibition Turf will host a programme of related events including a Curator’s tour, Discussion, Family Art Fun Day, Series of workshops around Visual Impairment in the Arts, Reading Group and a Lunchtime Artist Crit. The exhibition and events were made possible with the generous support of the Arts Council England & Centrale Shopping Centre, Croydon.
Photos: Tim Bowditch